Back in Norway

I was now 2 months away from Norway. The first 3 weeks I have been in Roatán, Honduras where I preached an evangelistic campaign. I enjoyed the time very much although it had it challenges. It took a while to get adopted to a new surrounding, a new culture, new people and new customs. The church I was assigned to preach was completely spanish-speaking with two or three speaking very basic english. Our communication was a mix of spanish, english and a big part of sign-language. But I learned to trust them and in God that everything will go right. It was a beautiful time in the nature (when we got some time to go): the beautiful beach of West Bay, the constant warmth of a tropical winter, palmtrees all around and the blue sea at the far horizon. The people are different too. After a week I really began to like those who came regulary to the meetings. Especially the kids who have less timidity to just walk up to me and talk to me even though I don't understand a word. The last they was a special day! It was Sabbath and we had baptism at the beach. It was a beautiful scenery with coconut-trees, a white beach and the sound of the waves breaking against the reef in the background. After some songs two persons were baptized and welcomed into the church. The whole ceremony was followed with a fellowship lunch - typical hondurian food: rice, beans and platano and also some salads and other things. At the afternoon a large part of the church went for a mountain walk with some thoughts, songs and testimonies. And at night we all met at some kind of a parking lot. I played a lot with the kids and youth, got to talk to friends and even get to know new people. And at the end they said good-bye to me and having me to give a speech for them... It was a wonderful sabbath and I wished to stay with them but the next morning we had to leave.
The journey south was surprisingly comfortable and even enjoyable. We went from Coxen Hole with the boat to La Ceiba then with a private bus over San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa and finally arrived in Suyatal. Here I would stay for the next weeks. Most of the time I worked on guava-trees or went for outreach in the nearby village. I gave little devotionals and biblestudies for those who are more "advanced". I also sang for some of them because I learned some spanish songs in the weeks before. Most people here live in huts of wood or bricks. The roof is either of corrugated metal sheets or tiles. They have electricity and water which comes from a creek in the mountain. A part of the village work in the coffee-plantation in the mountain (I had also a chance to go there - it was very muddy and wet and cold!) Others have their cows, chickens or a piece of land somewhere in the surrounding area where they grow beans, sugarcane, oranges, coffee and occasionally also papaya, mango, guava and other fruits. Despite or perhaps because of the more essential lifestyle the people are very warm and nice. They greet me always on the street and smile.
Christmas was strange. The day before I jumped into a nail (see picture more down) and in addition I had a stomach upset the whole day. But I had to go to Talanga to get a preventious tetanus vaxination. Nice Christmas present... And we couldn't just sit around on Christmas so we worked almost like normal. New Years Eve was also quiet: I went to bed at 8PM and slept through. That was nice.
We also went several times to Tegucigalpa, the capital. before christmas we had a concert and a cooking course which we repeated in the new year once again, just before we left Honduras. As we wanted to get the flight to Houston we aw that the flight was changed so we would miss our connection flights to NY and Oslo. But the airline organized everything: our hotel for a night in NYC and food. So we even got a chance to see New York! Times Square, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Wall Street and Rockefeller Center. That was quite a contrast to Tegu or even Suyatal! I felt like walking in a dream on a different planet.
So, we arrived in Oslo on wednesday morning, experiencing the coldness of the northern winter. I still love the cold! It has some special aroma.

Now the question remains: What did I learn? What do I take with me from that past 2 months? Have I developed my physical, mental and spiritual abilities?
I don't really know but I trust in God that he is working in me. And I will explore more what others really have experienced and learned by talking to them during work and spare time in order to reflect and examine the past experience and its influence on my and others lives.